Five ways to prevent stomach bugs for families

1. Wash- Up
The most obvious and simple method of preventing illness is to make sure your child washes her hands thoroughly and regularly. Pay particular attention after touching raw food, animals, the toilet or a bin.

READ MORE>> How children should wash their hands!

2. Watch Where You Chop
Many common stomach bugs are caused by bacteria that lives in fresh produce so ensure you use separate chopping boards for raw and ready-to-eat food, cleaning in between uses with an antibacterial spray or washing liquid.

3. Cook Thoroughly
Ensure food is piping hot all the way through after cooking, particularly poultry, pork, burgers sausages and kebabs.

4. Store Food Properly
The final step in the holy trinity of food poisoning protection is ensuring all raw and cooked food is stored in the correct way. Ensure your refrigerator is cold enough (below 5C), store meat on the bottom shelf, where it can't drip on to other products and cool cooked food that you don't intend to eat quickly, only reheating meat once.

5. Keep it Clean
The germs that cause bugs such as the stomach flu are often found hiding in the bathroom so ensure this area stays clean as a whistle, using disinfectant products. Other bacteria blackspots can include door handles, the lids of nappy bins and light switches.